Break in the Clouds
by UnderTheJackPine
Summary: Herry's drive home from New Olympia was long and it was lonely. He should be happy, it meant their job for the gods was done, but he just felt empty. Just while he was feeling at his lowest he meets a new friend on his travels, a welcome ray of sunshine in his gloom.


Farm fields. That's all there was, farm fields and more farm fields. The drive through the Rockies had actually been okay. It was long, but it was beautiful. There was always something interesting to look at in the mountains. Now they were only a reflection in Herry's rear view mirror. All that lay out in front of him now was the rolling prairies. It was too early in the year for flowers and too late in the year for snow. Grey and brown would comprise the remainder leg of his ride home.

Herry felt heavy, the weight growing with every passing kilometer. He had never endured a more difficult goodbye. It had hollowed him out inside. Two years he had spent with the six people who became his closest friends, two years they had lived under the same roof. They would never get the opportunity to be together like that again. Herry's fists tightened on the steering wheel, he bit his lip and focused on the road laid out straight to the horizon. How many more kilometers could he take before his empty husk collapsed under the growing weight?

He was not looking forward to tonight. The loneliness was going to be crippling. Herry was beginning to regret his decision to pass through Banff National Park. At least there would be trails through the mountains, little nooks to explore. It would have been something to keep his mind occupied. Any parks he stopped at now would be flat, dull and full of dead grasses from last year's season. Banff was already a half hour behind him; it was too late to turn around now.

Calgary was an hour off. That was where he should spend the night. Calgary would make the ten hour mark of his trip. He really shouldn't push himself further than that. There were things to do there, maybe not things he preferred to do like adventuring on mountains, but things to do none the less. Things to keep him distracted.

_**THUD**_

The crash into the side of his truck jarred Herry out of his planning for the evening. All the blood drained from his face, he felt the tingle on his cheeks as it was sucked away. The tires screeched as he slammed his foot down onto the break. He slammed forward into his seatbelt, the harness forcing all the air from his lungs. What had he hit? He hadn't seen a gods damn thing. Then again he wasn't quite paying attention either.

There was nothing he could spot in his mirrors. He tossed the truck into park in the middle of the Trans-Canada Highway and swung open his door. Coughing as he tried to regain his breath he stumbled onto the road. Nothing on the driver's side, he sprinted around to the back, nothing behind. Heart pounding in his ears he rounded to the passenger side. There, shaking on the shoulder of the road was a dog.

"Shit," Herry pressed his palms to his temples. A dog, he hit a dog. His stomach was twisting so many ways all he wanted to do was vomit. A dog. Its big golden eyes locked onto his and gouged out his heart.

"I'm so sorry pup," he crouched down and said in what he hoped was a calming voice. Very, very slowly he inched closer to it, holding out his hand. It looked at his outstretched fingers, but its nose didn't twitch in a sniff. It just shook. It was standing alright. Maybe he had just nicked it, or maybe it had run into him. He took one more shuffle closer, his hand only a couple centimeters away, and finally it sniffed. Herry let out a lungful of air he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Hey there," a small smile spread across his face. Gradually reaching his hand back from its nose Herry gave its ear a rub.

The dogs tongue flicked out to lick its lip, not quite too sure what to make of the situation.

"It's all right," Herry continued talking, "You're quite beautiful. What are you? A collie of some kind, a border collie, that's what you look like anyways, but can border collies be brown?"

Very hesitantly its tail started to wag.

"There you go, see we can be friends," he told it, shuffling closer so he could ruffle the fur on its shoulder. The dog stepped out a paw on the gravel of the road's shoulder and leaned closer to sniff his face.

"I think I just stunned you," Herry said, "I _hope _I just stunned you." He gave a toothy smile and continued to run his hand along its fur, a bit matted in places. It felt wiry to his fingertips. He could feel its ribs and the shallow valleys between the bones, "I wonder if you have a home. It doesn't really look like it, eh. What are you doing all the way out here, do you got a home?"

It looked up at him with its golden eyes, no longer full of fear, but instead curiosity.

"I could bring you to my home," he said. As the words came out of his mouth the weight that had been pushing in on him for hours ever so slightly released. He was almost certain it was a stray, he was sure no one would miss it if he brought it home with him. This could be _his_ dog. Still petting the dog he got to his feet, giving it one more pat on the top of its head before he backed up one step, then two. He didn't want the first happiness he had experienced since leaving New Olympia to dart away on him. Keeping the dog in his vision he backed up to the bed of his truck and grabbed a rope there.

Coming back to the dog he showed it the rope and let it give the rope a sniff. He began rubbing the fur on its shoulder again as he draped the end of it over its neck. The dog seemed okay with the weight of it, but he left it untied for a while longer.

"So what are you?" he leaned around to assess its gender, "You're a girl dog. Are you a good girl?" Her tail waged a little more, it was level with her back now, instead of tucked between her legs. Herry tied the rope off, creating a loose collar around her neck.

"Alright," he rose to his feet, rope in hand and gave a very gentle pull, "come on girl." She followed, taking tentative steps along beside him to the passenger door of the truck. Herry studied her as she walked, she didn't have a limp of any kind. He tugged open the truck's door and told her to hop in. She looked up to him, her ears and tail drooping again.

"Come on, it's alright," he said and patted the seat. She reared up to rest her front paws on the side of the truck, her brown nose wiggled as she sniffed the cab. Herry reached down, placing his arm behind her, leaving it there for a moment for her to acclimatize to his proximity before scooping up her bottom. She squirmed a little when he lifted her up and placed her on the seat, but settled when her four feet were back on something solid.

"There you are," he said and ruffled the liver brown fur between her ears. Holding up a flat palmed hand he told her to stay and stepped back to shut the door. She watched him through the window as he rounded around to the driver's side and hopped in.

"Let's see what's back here," Herry reached into the back bench seat where his belongings were piled. There was a tupperware on top of his suitcase full of snacks; he packed it strategically to be within arm's reach from the driver's seat. He pulled out a granola bar and unwrapped it. Her ears perked in interest and nose started to sniff when she heard the crinkling of the wrapper. She eagerly took half of it in one bite the second Herry started to extend it to her.

"Poor girl, I wonder when the last time you ate was," he said and took a bite for himself. He gave her the rest and turned around to get another granola bar. He unwrapped it and held it out for her, she woofed it down in seconds.

"I think we should get some stakes for dinner tonight," he told her, head when she started poking her wet nose on his hand in search of more treats. He gave her neck a rub and reached for his pocket for his keys, quickly remembering he hadn't grabbed them in his haste.

He turned the key in the ignition, the dash lights and the consol flicked on as the engine turned over. The clock on his radio flashed six fifteen, accelerating back up to highway speed he told his new companion, "There probably won't be any vet offices open when we get to Calgary, you seem okay though. Tomorrow morning before we head out we will find a vet. How does that sound?"

She was still watching him intently when he glanced over. He smiled and reached to where she sat in the passenger seat to give her a pet. Herry sighed as he turned his attention back to the road. He hoped his new friend hadn't taken any damage from his carelessness. He was already inventing so many fun memories that were yet to be made with his dog. Maybe Odie could put his mind at ease.

He wouldn't drive distracted again. He pulled over onto the shoulder of the road to make the call. Shifting his weight over to the left to loosen up the binding in his pants, he wrestled his phone free from his pocket and punched in Odie's number. He put his PMR on speaker and placed it on the dash mount. With his hands free he pulled back onto the highway.

It range only twice before Odie picked up, an enthusiastic greeting chimed through the device, "Hey man, what's up?"

"Driving, what are you up to?" Herry returned the question.

"Sitting at the bus station, bored as hell," nothing in his voice hinted to his boredom, but it rang true for his next statement, "I'm glad you called."

"No wi-fi there, huh?" Herry said with a taunting edge to his voice.

"Nah, I don't really want to read any of my books either," he said with a sigh, "They're all on Greek history and mythology."

"Yeah," Herry said, a small frown tugging down on the corners of his mouth. He cleared his throat and said, "So, I did something awful, but then it turned out to be pretty good."

Odie's end was quiet for a moment, completely befuddled he asked, "What?"

"I hit a dog, but don't worry, she's okay, at least I think she's okay," he said, taking a glance at her, now curled up on the seat beside him.

"Ooo," Odie hissed and said, "That's shitty."

"I wanted to take to a vet once I get to Calgary, but it's still an hour away," he said, "Do you think it's bad of me to wait till morning to take her in."

"If she looks okay, I'd say it's fine to wait," he said, "You have her with you then?"

"Yeah," he smiled and gave a light laugh, "I think I'm going to keep her."

"I see it didn't take you long to replace me," Odie said, Herry could hear the smile on his face.

"Hey girl, speak," Herry addressed his new dog, she lifted her head and glanced up at him. Her sunshine eyes darted down from his eyes and then back up again, her little eyebrows moving with them.

"I don't think she knows that one," Odie said.

"Well I just got her like five minutes ago, I haven't taught her that tick yet."

Odie laughed and asked, "What breed is she?"

"I think she's a border collie, but she's not black, she's brown," Herry said, "can they be brown?"

"Sure they can," Odie said, "they can be black, brown, red, blue."

"What? No way," he responded, "how can a dog be blue?"

"It's like a gray colour. Black is the most dominant for border collies," Odie said, "The other colours are recessive genes. They can be merle as well."

"Merle is a character on 'Walking Dead,'" he said, pleased with himself he could contribute to the conversation.

There was a chuckle on the other end of the line before he clarified, "Merle is like a splotchy pattern, I guess would be the best way to describe it. It can be a whole whack of colours."

"Oh, that's kind of cool," he said, "mine's brown."

Odie gave another little laugh and asked, "What did you name her?"

"I haven't named her yet," Herry said, surprised the thought hadn't occurred to him yet, "what's a good name for a dog."

"I don't know," he responded, "Shadow, Buddy"

"You didn't even try," he said, "come on, give me something good."

"Let me think about it for a minute," he said.

Herry waited, the sound of bags rustling came through the speaker. To fill the silence he said, "I like her eyes, they remind me of sunshine. Maybe I'll call her Sunshine."

"Herry, a four year old could come up with a better name," Odie said.

"How about Sunny?"

"It's better," he said and fell quiet for a while longer, with a laugh he offered up a name, "Cerberus."

Herry scoffed and quickly shot it down, "No way. Don't look in your text books for ideas."

"Wait, I actually found a good one," he said and waited for a cue from Herry to say it.

"What is it?"

"Amica," he said.

"What the hell is that?" he asked in bafflement.

"It means friend in Latin," Odie said and right after jibed, "You know, since she's stealing my position as your best friend."

"I am not going to call her that, what did you say? Amy... something," he said, "Hey, I could call her Amy, that's the first three letters to whatever you said."

"Just the first two letters," Odie muttered and then spoke up, "Amy's not bad. I like it when dogs have people names."

"Okay," Herry said, slamming the flat side of his fist down on his steering wheel like a judge's gavel, "Amy it is."

"Hey," Odie's voice piped up, "the bus just pulled in."

"You got to go then," Herry tried to keep the disappointment from his voice.

"Yeah soon," he said, "before I go, I want to tell you my idea I've been thinking about for the hours and hours I've been sitting here."

"I don't think you need to be at the bus station hours early," he said.

"It was better than sitting alone in the brownstone," Odie sighed. Both boys fell quiet, an unspoken moment of silence for the plethora of good memories the building held. Clearing his throat he said, "Anyways, I was thinking we should all find a place to stay together for the summer and make it a tradition. It doesn't have to be in New Olympia, but I guess it needs to be pet friendly now."

Herry smiled at the proposal, a little more weight was lifted off from around him. With gusto he responded to Odie's idea, "I'm game."

"Good," there was relief that seeped through on his voice, a relief Herry completely understood. They were all still friends, they may not be living together any longer, but there was years of memories ahead of them to be made. The thought of discovering them made him feel lighter. The aching in his gut slowly started to alleviate.

"I'll talk to you soon Odie," Herry said to his friend.

"Yeah," he said, "and send me a picture of your dog later."

"Okay," he said with a smile, "bye."

"See you," this goodbye was not painful, Odie sounded happy when he hung up, content. Herry instantly pulled over to the side of the road and picked up his PMR.

"Odie wants a picture of you," he told Amy, nudging her to sit up. He leaned down beside her and held out his PMR at arm's length to snap a picture. He straightened and took a look to ensure it wasn't blurry. Amy looked a little reserved, not quite too sure what to think of the contraption being held out in front of her. She was still absolutely adorable with her floppy ears and eyes full of sun. When the day started Herry would never have guessed he would be smiling that large by the end of it. That morning leaving New Olympia behind, leaving his friends behind, had filled him with dread for what appeared like a lonely future. Now he had a furry companion beside him and a summer plan. He sent off the picture to Odie.

Smiling he dropped his phone into the cup holder and pulled back out onto the road. The low evening sun cast the landscape into a different view. It wasn't just gray and brown rolling out to the horizon anymore. There were golden grasses that had endured the winter, flashes of red, yellow and black amongst them by newly arrived red-winged blackbirds. Little sprouts of green were beginning to grow along the roads and buds waiting to burst open. There was blue overhead and the clouds were wispy white, high up in the sky. Suddenly everything was bright.

* * *

Hey Guys,

It's been a while since I've posted something. The idea of this came from me wanting to get a dog, back in February when I moved back home to take a job that was too far away from where I was living with my fiance I asked my parents if I could get one for my b-day. I thought they would be fine with it since they are both dog people and since our last one passed about two and a half years ago my dad periodically talks about getting a new one, but has yet to actually do it. So, if I got one they get all the pleasures of having a dog around without any of the work. However they seem to think the university graduate with a full time job is not going to take care of it and dump it on them. Thanks for the bode of confidence mom and dad. I'll just have to wait till I move out in September.

Hope you all enjoy. As always I am open to constructive criticism!

Jackpine


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